UK Delegation Seeks Tighter Bonds with SE Asia Allies

Keen to foster greater defense industry cooperation with allies in Southeast Asia, the UK Government is supporting a range of UK-based defense and security companies exhibiting here at the Singapore Airshow under the delegation’s theme of “capability and innovation.”

“For many years, the UK and Singapore have shared an important strategic relationship, a relationship that has grown stronger as we have collaborated to identify global threats and proposed solutions,” said Alexis Hammer, regional director for the Americas and Asia Pacific in the UK Department for International Trade’s (DIT’s) Defence and Security Organisation, who also heads the UK delegation here (Stand M65). “The Singapore Airshow 2018 provides real opportunities for the international community to work together and learn from each other,” added Hammer.

The DIT noted that UK defense exports last year totaled £5.9 billion (S$14.7 billion; US$8.3 billion), while security exports were £4.3 billion (S$8 billion; US$6 billion), and the UK is second only to the U.S. as a destination for inward investment.